Some of the passengers who were on the train said the derailment sounded like an earthquake.

“The train was moving and then suddenly, it started jerking, until it came to a stop” said one passenger. “I thought, we’re just going to have to sit here for a few minutes. And then to find out, when we actually stood up and saw the cars, it was stunning and shocking.”

Three people reportedly suffered minor back injuries as a result of the slow-speed derailment that occurred around 9:20 a.m., according to BART spokesman Linton Johnson.

Initially, Johnson had said that none of the 65 passengers on board the trains were injured.

The 10-car train had just left the Concord BART station en route to San Francisco International Airport when the eighth car’s wheels came fully off the tracks. The ninth car’s wheels also partially disengaged, according to Johnson.

BART officals are hoping to have cleared the tracks for service before the start of the morning commute. However, they are working on a contingency plan, Johnson said.

Details of the contingency plan have not yet been released.

A bus bridge between the Pleasant Hill and Pittsburg/Bay Point BART stations has been set up for passengers, as there is currently no service between those stations, Johnson said.

An investigation into the cause of the derailment is under way, Johnson said.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report)

Onlywo cars fell off, and they were nottipped. I almos mised it if my wife didn’t say anything. Looks like one set of wheels bumped off the tracks and was half on, half in the centet platform, like a car in a Ditch

hi I was on the second to last bart car, one of the ones that derailed. it was much worse than the above first hand account says – at least in the derailed cars. I thought we were going to either flip or go off the guard rail and down the slope. There was a smell of fire afterwards. Bart police and firemen were there very shortly after, but the sounds and sights of the derailment have left me shaken. Our car was jammed into the one in front of us, luckily no one was severely injured and the policemen were very helpful and reassuring.

Perhaps another “trail truck goes the wrong way???” (remember a few years back when a set of “rail trucks went the wrong way at the 12’th Street BART station”???). First off, let’s be very thank ful that nothing serious happened to people. I’m sure that one set of rail trucks Jumpped over and went the wrong way ….. but also …. check out potential of “switching problems at the switches (switches started pointing 1 direction, and then went the otjer direction”.

B.A.R.T
Becoming. A. Real. Threat.
After living in the Bay Area for over a year I have seen the rising issues with public transportation. I was here for the Bart/Muni strikes. Both of them have mounting debts and seek tax payers help. With hundreds of employees, including a personal trans-county police force, making upwards of $100,000 a year each we still have a rusty decaying transit system. How many breakdowns will it take before an entire train losses control, or a public employee gets hurt or hurts someone else. Take back control of your cities and stop allowing these corrupted unions to steal our money and maybe our lives.

Maybe if BART personnel at all levels (not singling out unions at the moment), were paid according to their ability to do their jobs rather than their ability to schmooze or their ability to blackmail other BART employees, there would be more money to maintain the system.